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Unit 4: Wave Models and Quantum Physics
Quick questions on Nuclear fission and fusion: WACE Year 12 Physics Unit 4
3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What is nuclear fission?Show answer
In fission a heavy nucleus absorbs a neutron, becomes unstable and splits into two medium-sized daughter nuclei, releasing two or three neutrons and a large amount of energy. A typical example is
What is nuclear fusion?Show answer
In fusion, light nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, for example deuterium and tritium fusing to helium:
What is explaining the energy source?Show answer
In any answer, anchor the energy release to the binding-energy curve: both processes move nuclei toward the iron peak, increasing binding energy per nucleon, so the products have less mass than the reactants and the difference is released as energy. Quote as the conversion.
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